I have a theory, unconfimred of course, that the location of tick bites on a human is related to the most common alternative host species in the area.
In our area, unusual for the rest of Sydney, we have two possible vector species - deer (Rusa species mostly) and bandicoots. Bandicoots are endangered and not very common. deer are in plague proportions. The local deer-lovers are insistent that deer are not the mian vector, but when you have plagues of ticks corresponding to plagues of deer and not a hint of a bandicoot burrow, my feelnigs are that deer are the most likely vector in thie case.
When difficult child 3 had his massive load of ticks, ALL were groin height or above. They were all hatchlings (the first hatching or larvae). The usual pattern is, the ticks hatch from the eggs then climb to whatever height they choose to, and "quest" or hang out with their little legs ready to grab onto the first likely host. difficult child 3's groin heignt was roughly corresponding to the top of a deer's legs. If a tick quested at that height, they would never meet up with a bandicoot since they are rat-sized and live on the ground.
However, a point to take into account with kids and tick bites - kids, unlike most adults, are not always bipedal. Kids at play often roll on the ground. So ticks questing at any height will find a kid an attractive host.
I do think the doctor treating it as Lyme is a sensible precaution. I didn't think multiple tick bites would produce multiple bulls-eye rash - I thought the rash was a separate thing not necessarily at the bite site (hence erythema MIGRANS).
Apart from the Lyme possibilities, treatment for tick or chiggers would be fairly similar, symptomatic and reactive. So of course you treat what even POSSIBLY needs treating, rather than waiting for the sky to fall in.
I do hope, in a way, it was not tick bite - then the risk of Lyme would be zero.
I remember the chiggers as being really itchy, but I suspect if I had been a kid, I might have been able to distract myself from it. Once I'd scratched the head out of the pustules, the itch changed. Again theory - the itch is a human physiological reaction which also deals with the parasitisation aspect of the chiggers bite, by removing the larval stage before it does any more damage.
I had a lot of tick bites as a kid. We had dogs, we had sheep, we had cats and we commonly had to search the animals (and ourselves) for ticks. We lost a few animals to ticks that got missed. Sheep, especially. I hated losing the half-grown lambs. Younger lambs were easier to search, their wool was still pale enough and short enough.
Whether Lyme Disease exists in Australia has been hotly debated. I don't believe it does, but there is the possibility that a related organism does exist and is tick-borne. People do get diagnosed with Lyme Disease here but only because the test is interpreted VERY loosely, more so than the test criteria recommend. And if you interpret it loosely enough, EVERYONE would test positive because we all have some form of Borellia organism in our mouths. People have been tested even where they don't remember having had a rash, or even can't remember a tick bite. Catch 22 logic gets used.
My concern for Australia - we are possibly missing something which needs independent research Occupational Therapist (OT) determine what it is, what it does and how to treat it, all because some people got obsessed with Lyme Disease and insisted IT wascausative.
However, in the US it's a different picture. Borrelia burdorferi was positively identified, described and a test for it developed, because it was found there. Therefore, it is highly appropriate to test for it and treat for it purely on the off-chance.
So if I express scepticism, please don't assume I mean it relates to you or to Duckie. It's purely down to my frustration for the simple option being chosen, when it's far less likely for us over here.
You sound like you've done absolutely everything you could do. Taking the photos is something we often forget to do, it's sensible to do it. So what if you have a few extra photos in your files? If you end up not needing them, or they're not relevant - no harm done. But if they could shed light on a diagnosis - then well done, you!
Marg